Italian builder Salini Impregilo has warned the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) that a failure to find a solution to the current financial wrangling could delay the development by up to three years.

A statement from Impreglio said: “There is no alternative to honouring the contract and the law. … The alternative to the completion of the works by the current consortium would result in a delay of at least three years, the expected time for the construction of a new set of gates by any new contractor, even if it were ever possible to replace the consortium without further delays to the civil works.”